Indian expeditioner hoists tricolour at Europe's highest peak

London: An Indian mountaineer hoists the nation's tricolour on the highest peak in Europe, Mount Elbrus, marking the 76th Independence Day, PTI reported.

Thirty-year-old Bhawna Dehariya from Madhya Pradesh timed her expedition to the 5,642-metre peak to celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and raised the national flag on Monday.

Dehariya, who climbed the peak located on the Russia-Georgia border, had conquered Mount Everest in the past.

In a message from the peak, Dehariya, a one-year-old's mother, said, "The weather near the top of the mountain was extremely cold, with winds blowing up to 35 km/h and making visibility subsided with temperatures down to minus 25 degrees Celsius."

"It made it difficult for us even to take a rest for a few minutes amid the coldest weather. However, post-pregnancy, I was mentally prepared for the summit. I geared myself up for this day and practised a lot in the mountains of Tamia. Thus, this made me successfully reach the top of Mount Elbrus before record time," she said.

She had started the expedition on August 10 and travelled from Moscow to Mineral Vody.

"The next day was extremely strenuous due to bad weather, and I had a blood clot from my nose while undergoing high altitude acclimatisation during the rotation for climatic adaptation at the height of 2,346 metres," she said.

"Thereafter, we established a base camp with the group on August 12 at a height of 3,888 metres, where we had rotation for the following two days up to a height of 4,500 metres. Notably, this rotation is essential for protecting the body from acute mountain sickness and fluctuations in mountain air pressure." On the midnight of August 13, the team started towards the peak and reached there in the early hours of August 15.

Dehariya proudly said, "I hoisted the tricolour with grandeur at the peak of Mount Elbrus West, which is 5,642 metres high above the sea level."

She said the expedition was a collaboration between the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board and the State Bank of India. It was very difficult, strenuous and physically exhausting.

She has previously established herself as one of the first women from Madhya Pradesh to scale Mount Everest on May 22, 2019, and went on to scale Mount Kosciuszko in Australia in the same year. She has also scaled Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, the continent's highest peak and has had the opportunity to celebrate Diwali and Holi at some of the highest peaks.

Her latest expedition was planned for 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and was particularly tough as she had to leave behind her daughter. However, the mountaineer is determined to complete the peaks of all seven continents as part of her "Seven Summits Quest" and unfurl the tricolour on all of the highest peaks she scales.